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Health DO or DON'T: Drinking Beer Made From a Guy's Beard

I'm at an emotional crossroads with this right now. I'm not sure whether to laugh ("beard beer" sounds funny!), shudder (OMG, "beard beer" sounds... OMG!), or just be totally fascinated by the science going on here.

This guy has a beard and a beer, but he's not the guy who made beer out of his beard.

Brewmaster John Maier--of Rogue Ales in Newport, Oregon--has a beard that he hasn't shaved for 34 of his 57 years. When Rogue Ales--which produces its own barley, hops, and honey--was on the hunt to find a way of creating its own homegrown yeast, the other brewmasters plucked nine hairs from Maier's beard for fun, and sent it off to the lab with other possible yeast sources.

Long story short: there was yeast growing on the beard--better yeast than any of the other possible sources. So the brewery decided to see what would happen if it was an ingredient in beer.

The results?

The brew had a mild, fruity aroma and lacked any harsh, medicinal flavors that sometimes result from using wild yeast, [Neva Parker, manager of White labs and fermentation specialist] adds. In fact, the beer tasted so good, the scientist double-checked that they hadn't mistakenly used the [brewery's usual strain of yeast] instead of Maier's beard yeast.

Maier's beard probably picked up the yeast during his 20 years of brewing (breweries and wineries grow dense yeast cultures and "become coated from floor to ceiling with the fungus").

See what I mean? Fascinating. But also very... eeks! What do you think of this beard beer? Would you ever try it?